It was strange, although I was meeting her for the first time, her voice felt oddly familiar to me. She was however very familiar to Zac and I watched the two of them glare at each other with violence building behind their eyes.

“Zac you are such a good errand boy. Now go play in the sunshine, I have business with this man,” she said, waving the angel off with a flick of her wrist.

Zac’s eyes went wide and he threw out a hasty goodbye. Before I could thank him the angel sprouted his wings and took off with a blast of hot summer air. The centaur woman tried to make herself small and fled the scene, fleeing back to her temple. Temple goers looked outside to see the demoness and I standing there, and they hurriedly closed the doors. I saw a human holding a chocolate chip cookie, wearing a hoodie with a custom print and jeans. Clearly labelled on the front of his shirt was the band name ‘Rush’, and as soon as it set in what that meant the temple doors slammed shut.

“Holy shit, he’s from Earth,” I whispered. I cursed myself for not accepting the offer of cookies. Were they in trouble? Were they like me, did they become keepers, or did they just become adventurers?

“My goddess has business with you,” the demoness said steerly. She tilted her head to the side and gave me a small smile. “Because of your shrine to Ishaka you may collect a reward.”

Her tone had changed, sounding more like a honeyed whisper to invite me in. I had to admit, her promise of a reward sounded good to my ears. I could find out about the other humans from Earth later. “I really do need to go to Icharn’s temple, but I could drop by for a quick talk.”

The demoness smirked watching the vanishing form of Zac. She put her arm into the crook of mine and guided me towards her temple. The crowds of people ahead of us parted like the sea, bowing in respect to the demoness on my arm. As we passed a trash can her tail grabbed my empty milkshake cup and dunked it into the bin. “May I know your preferred name? I like to have a more personal relationship with my clients, and tell me, how do you like the Nexus?”

“Josh is perfectly fine, and if I’m honest, it’s almost too much to take in at once,” I said. The possibilities ran through my mind. What if I could sell my wares here? What could I get to help everyone back home, and most importantly, could I visit Earth? The demoness beside me grinned, as if she was expecting me to say that. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Vellorosa van’ack Civesita, but just call me Vel. My mother was rather enamoured with Grannic culture when it was in its golden age at the time she had me,” she said.

Knowledge World : Failure!

In response to my confused look, Vel pointed up at one of the distant floating islands, one that seemed older, and much larger than the rest with ancient walls capped with bronze and gold. “A dead empire that fell a millennium ago. If you ever find their burial tombs, it is said that there are ancient secrets and the most powerful artifacts in all of the realms in there. But no one has ever been able to breach the enchanted walls."

Vel slowed down her pace and leaned into my ear. “It's said the high lord was buried with his sorceress wife who held the key to that island. If you find said key, Ishaka would love to have it, and you could get a lot of rewards from her.” Vel tapped my chest with her nail, and winked.

A legendary quest has been issued!

This notification came with fanfare, and was lined with gold colouring, olive branches and the strumming of a harp. I looked up in awe of the floating islands one last time, until the overhanging roof cut off my view. The temple to Ishaka was built in a way that it looked like a luxury hotel mixed with a domed temple, and a casino. Hundreds of stained glass windows shone with light as their curtains failed to block out the different hues. The detailed carvings of the stone along with the odd shadows from the two suns made it look like the stone temple was a coral reef underwater.

I could see through to the other side of the spacious temple, watching the people mill about the middle until they made it to the large double doors along each wall. Each doorway had a different coloured arch over them, with text or symbols on each sign denoting where they led. Each one was wide open and led to a distinctly different themed area. One had a sand covered floor that had windows that showed the ocean, another was a wooden building with clean carpet floors and lit candles to beat back the darkness of night. A third led to a smokey hallway with curtains, cushions and a bar in a waiting room where richly dressed customs sat and talked. The final one was a stone hallway, with matching wooden doors and patrolling guards in chainmail armour. One of them approached the open door and the air rippled, as if they had walked through jello.

Having been awestruck by this odd phenomenon, our conversation managed to catch back up to me and it clicked.“Wait, a millennium?” I asked. Vel didn’t look a day over thirty. “There’s no way you could be that old…”

Vel put a hand up to her mouth as she tried to hide her grin. “Oh you are a delight, I can see why your priestess has put in a good word for you during her prayers.”

Oh right, the shrine. I should have asked Yara what I was supposed to be doing there, like if there was a weekly sacrament or sermon. With everything that had been going on it has always just slipped my mind.

“You need better attendance however,” Vel said sternly.

“Yes ma’am,” I said, flinching. I had a deep sense that Vel was powerful, very, very powerful and I did not want her to be upset.

Vel walked me towards the second hallway with the wooden walls and I felt my hair rise as we passed through the liquid barrier. A door at the end of the hall opened up and a pair of elves and demons walked out of the room, followed by a guard. They were cheerful and exchanged scrolls of paper that glowed. Outside a nearby glass window pane I saw a starry sky, a peaceful lake with resting geese and cresting waves that were frozen in place.

I tapped the window and earned myself a stern ‘ahem’ from Vel. The window rippled like the doorway behind me, and the image outside changed to a nightmarish void. I jumped back into a passing guard who caught me easily.

The demon guard had a green glass spear that crackled with energy, and staring at me through the chainmail veil was a familiar pair of yellow eyes. I had a tab that appeared in the corner of my vision, telling me I had met this person before.

Vixa, Half-Demon, Level 6 Guardian

“Oh, hi Vixa,” I said.

“Josh!” Vixa gasped, hugging me to her chest. “I heard my friend Yara works for you!”

“Vix-aaa, too tight,” I wheezed.

Vixa let me go and dusted me off, passing me back my dropped yellow bag. After apologizing to me she turned to Vel and saluted her by crossing her arm across her chest and put the flat of her hand over her heart. “Guardian Vixa requesting permission to escort you ma’am.”

Vel shrugged. “Very well. Come along young ones.”

Vixa shook with excitement beside me and looked down at the wrapped gift. “Is that for Yara?”

I held it up and laughed at the thought of Yara wearing the fox onesie. “That would be a sight to see. No, it’s a set of pyjamas for a dear friend of mine for Heinekia’s Winter Festival.”

Vixa hummed with amusement. “But you got something for Yara?”

I could see the mischievous grin in Vixa’s gaze and Vel had stopped beside a fine wooden door with her name on it. She raised an eyebrow and looked at me expectantly.

“I got her a box full of these white sticks she eats all the time, I think someone called them Fairy Sticks. If you can think of a better gift let me know,” I said.

The two demonesses exchanged a look, and Vel spoke up. “That’s a good gift. Such a great one you might want to give it to her before, just to make sure.”

Before I could ask what she meant she opened the door and took us inside. It was an office. Bookshelves lined the walls in a quest to support the enormous amount of books, signed letters, scattered parchments and magical scrolls, only to be stopped in their conquest of all the available floor space by a cabinet filled with bottles of luxurious wine and crystal glasses. A set of comfortable sitting cushions flanked the fireplace that held dancing black and purple flames. Finally, occupying the centre was a huge desk upon which held a set of quills, unsigned documents and a carved crystal glass containing a few thawed ice cubes. Vel sat down in her seat behind the desk, and sighed as she relaxed.

“Vixa could you fetch some wine from the cabinet?” Vel asked.

Vixa opened the glass cabinet and fetched a bottle as I sat down in a comfortable armchair opposing Vel, who started tapping the air in front of her. Three scrolls appeared on the desk, each one was made with warm cream coloured parchment and the scroll rods were made of shining brass. One of them had gold inlay in the brass head of the rod and seemed to be made of older parchment too.

Vixa only poured two glasses, one for herself and Vel. Vixa held up her glass and took a seat in the other chair. After pulling her veil back and taking a sip she turned to me and shook her glass. “Sorry, it's a demon blend, we can’t share. You would be either hallucinating or be in the washroom in agony until it passed.”

“That’s alright,” I said, leaning away from her drink. I patiently waited for Vel to wet her throat and place her drink into the ice cubes. I looked around the room one last time. “Nice office.”

Vel let out a satisfied hum and sank into her seat. “Thank you Vixa, and thank you Josh. You know Vixa, if you work hard for the next century you might end up getting my seat.”

Vixa gasped, nearly spilling the wine onto herself. “I would never dream of such a thing, Vel. You're way too good at your job, I wouldn’t be able to handle all the paperwork you deal with everyday.”

“Ah, management. The work never ends, does it?” I laughed. Looking at the piles of loose papers, and mounds of ink pens that ate away at the desks real estate I felt a sense of nostalgia. I might be in a different world, but bureaucracy was just the same as always it seemed.

Vel started to unfurl the scrolls and after checking them she turned them around for me to read. “It’s not so hard. The spirits do most of the work and I just have to make the call if our worshippers deserve a reward or are just doing the minimum to appease the goddess.”

I looked up to see Vel looking down at me with a critical eye. I cautiously raised a hand. “Am I doing enough?”

Vel summoned another scroll in her hand and looked down at it. “You could do with upgrading the shrine, but to help you with that I can give you a building recipe. Yara has actually requested a few, but I already know which one you should make.”

“What would that be?” I asked.

“A massage room. It would contain a massage table, oils, and a few rune stones to aid in aligning magical auras,” Vel said.

“I like the sound of that,” I said, rolling my shoulders. I could already feel my back crack.

Vel and Vixa exchanged a quick glance and the two of them laughed. I looked between them and Vixa spoke up. “I think it’s so you would learn how to do it.”

Vel looked down at the scroll. “Indeed. When you build it I will be able to drop by for a short time to teach you how to do it so Yara’s auras could be strengthened. She has been under a lot of stress and you would do well to keep her happy. She is legally your wife after all.”

My mouth hung open as I remember the Overseer putting the rings on us. She had called us master and priestess at the time. Vel tapped me on the nose and waved a hand. “Hello, are you there?”

“I didn’t know she was actually my wife!” I said looking at the ring. “I just thought she was my protector. This whole time I’ve been sleeping with my girlfriends-”

“Trust me honey,” Vel said, cutting me off. “She doesn’t mind. While she is your direct priestess and technically your wife, you have nothing to worry about.”

Vixa leaned against the desk and slowly swirled her wine. “She sent me a few letters from the shrine. She thinks the two of them are cute and says they have a good bond with you already. If you play your cards right you might get a real fun surprise soon.”

What did that mean?

Vel tilted her head to the side as if she was reading something and she suddenly sat up, looking serious. She was now all business and tapped the scrolls. “I just got informed I have another client in your region. I need to speak to them soon. Pick one of the gifts and Vixa will escort you.”

Of the three scrolls the older one glowed with an inner purple light and its text had finer writing and golden text. I put that one to the side since it seemed more important, and I would read it last.

Gift of Fortunes

Gain a gift of gold from the coffers of the temple. 100 gold pieces appear at the shrine the next time you or your priestess prays. This gold is exempt from a tithe.

Gift of the Forgetful

A lost item, dear to one of your friends, appears at the base of the altar the next time they enter a shrine or temple dedicated to Ishaka. The friend is randomly chosen from any ally that is friendly to you, and near you at the time of choosing this gift.

Gift of the Lost Libraries

The ancient libraries of Avonna once dedicated to Ishaka and destroyed during the seventh war of the manablight trees are able to be accessed. Texts and first hand accounts were transcribed by dedicated scholars who’s spirits remain in the forgotten library. As such, they can give their knowledge to the bearer of this gift, giving them the talent ‘Golden Knowledge’. Please note the information gained from the spirits is based on what they know, or have access to, and as such might not be completely correct.

Vixa whistled and tapped below the third, more impressive scroll with a gloved hand. “That’s a rare one, you really lucked out there. If you want my opinion-”

“Vixa, we can’t say anything. There’s rules to these things,” Vel said calmly. When Vixa dipped her head and started to apologize, Vel raised a hand to stop her. “There’s thousands of silly rules you will learn when it is time. The gods are always making a mess of things, so worry not, you made no error.”

I had to agree with Vixa, that seemed like a lucky find and would prove useful. I was still floundering half the time and barely knew anything, the frustrating amount of times I had seen failures based on knowledge checks where proving I needed to know more. I could either get that with careful study and time I didn’t have, or I could have some ancient scholars give me at least partially true, or biased information. With a little luck I could also finally grab my knowledge based keeper talent when I levelled up, and combined I could finally make heads or tails of what was going on in Ewyernar.

“I’ll take the lost libraries one please,” I said.

Vel rolled up the scroll and handed it to me. “Touch it to your heart and thank Ishaka, and you will gain that talent.”

I tapped it to my chest and looked up at the ceiling. “Thank you Ishaka, I’ll try to remember to pray at your shrine more!”

The scroll vanished and I was coated in gold powder and dust. The powerful scent of old books struck my senses so hard I teared up. I felt something touch my nose and I instantly sneezed. The powder and dust blew around the room, making a mess of the table and Vel. I heard Vixa gasp and I tried to say sorry, but I only managed to squeeze out another sneeze.

Rare Talent has been added!

Golden Knowledge…

The text read the same thing as when it was in scroll, but now at the top of the notification was a small black box with a gold coloured scroll and quill on it. I tapped it and a new popup appeared beside the original.

Scholar Livy

When the great libraries were lost it was a blow to the whole of Ewyernar, the academics of the ages and to all the realms connected by the Nexus. But never fear for a new patron has joined us!

With this gift we spirits that still reside within the memory of this great place of learning can aid you, whenever you need it.

Side note added by Scholar Terrish

Except on the third day of the month, and also the tenth. That’s game night and that's when we challenge the folk down in records to trivia night.

Side-Side Note added by Scholar Aur-va

If it’s an emergency and you need to know the weakness of whatever beast is chewing on your legs then you can call on our knowledge. After the incident stemming from Scholar Terrish’s words we all agreed we would still help. Just don’t make a habit of it.

Side-side-side note…

The text scrolled on and on. I rubbed my eyes and wondered if I had just made a mistake. Vel, who was now coated in gold, rapidly tapped in the air and Vixa downed the rest of her glass, said her goodbyes and motioned that we should leave. I followed Vixa out in the hall, and I looked back at Vel. I saw a tiny icon by her and I tried to tap it.

Scholar Livy

You don’t want to do that.

Weird. What was also weird was that Vixa was taking us away from the exit. “Vixa, don’t we have to go that way?” I asked.

“Yes, but I can teach you something, and give you something for Yara that she will love,” Vixa said. She poked her head into a substantial kitchen and started raiding the larder. “Now, look at that bag you have in your hand and think about setting it down, but don’t actually move it.”

I tried to do as she asked, feeling it was a weird thing to even mention. A small popup appeared next to the bag in my hand and asked if I wanted to make it appear next to my sleeping body. I clicked yes and the bag with the onesie poofed away.

“Whoa, is there a limit to this?” I asked. I looked around the kitchen, there were tons of pots, pans, and hanging herbs. There was a fortune in expensive silver platters, cups and more here. “Couldn’t someone steal all this?”

“Only if they are more powerful than the person that owns it. Basically when you purchase an item at a shop here the owner makes it so you become the new owner, so you can transport it back and forth.” Vixa returned with an arm load of packages that she put on a cutting board. “You have to be around ten levels above someone to just take it. Which is one reason that a powerful demigod is always in the nexus, and in each temple there is a powerful leader to that faith. High level mages are only allowed on their islands now because one day, a long time ago, a high level human keeper got into a fight with a wingless dragon and stole the ground. Like the entire ground, dirt and all. Hundreds of people fell into the void, untold billions of gold worth of items and more. It took years to recover all the artifacts and people.”

I leaned back against a counter in awe of that. It was ridiculous, and yet that was something a human would do if they could.

Vixa opened a handful of the packages and they seemed to change for me. As she opened the top of the paper wrapping I saw the icon again, it was a black box with a gold scroll, and beside it was another option to send it back to where I was sleeping. She unveiled packs of chocolate fudge. I decided to tap the ‘Golden Knowledge’ button.

Scholar Issa

The best thing in the world is reaching a breakthrough that will improve the world. The second best thing is fudge! If you can find a way to send it to my spirit form I would love you. Well not really, that’s kind of extreme, but I would really like you as a person.

Avonna Fudge

This rare delicacy is typically given as a gift to visiting dignitaries. It is made by Master rank Chocolateers, and its recipe is a closely guarded secret. This item is worth more than its weight in gold, or so it’s said.

This new ability was going to take some getting used to.

“This is Yara’s favourite. Can you send these to her?” Vixa asked.

“Will I get in trouble?” I asked.

Vixa slid past me and looked out into the hallway. She silently closed the door and turned around to smile at me. “Uh, no?”

I tapped on the buttons and sent it all to my dungeon. “I just hope I wake up before her to explain what's going on.”

There was a door being opened on the opposite side of the kitchen and Vixa grabbed me. She threw open the door we had entered and sprinted back towards the main body of the temple.

Dexterity check : Failure!

I tripped on the carpet and Vixa picked up, throwing me over her shoulder. She ran through the weird liquid wall and set me down. She squeezed my forearm and looked impressed. “You’ve been working out since we last met.”

Before I could answer she donned her veil and pushed me out of the temple. Others looked at us like we were strange, but then shrugged and moved on with their own business. Once we were outside she let me move under my own power and I walked towards the final temple, the one to Icharn.

“Vixa, am I going to get in shit for that?” I asked.

Vixa’s yellow eyes looked at me like a stern gaze. “Would you rather some distant baker be mad at you or have the woman responsible for your safety be stressed?”

I looked at the tab where I could summon the fudge back and noticed I might be missing one. Maybe I dropped it or I had miscounted. “You're right. Besides, Yara was going to duel me tomorrow. Maybe she will go easy on me if I give her the fudge.”

Vixa stopped outside the final building and patted me on the back. “See you get it. I might come visit when I get some leave, so see you later Josh!”

I waved goodbye as the tall demon warrior woman left. With this small, yet odd detour out of the way it was only gonna be a small straight job to Icharn’s temple, and I was eager to see what the god of hidden knowledge would erect for a temple, and so I took off.